Nichole Georgeou

The Impact of Neoliberalism and New Managerialism on Development Volunteering: An Australian Case Study

Within the large volume of research on aid and development there has been limited study of international development volunteering generally and the ways in which it has been affected by neoliberalism. Development volunteering has undergone a resurgence over the past decade and some new forms of volunteering have emerged, but state-sponsored development programs are still a key form. These programs were relatively immune from neoliberal ideas and managerial practices until the early 2000s. An interesting puzzle is why neoliberal principles were operationalised in Australias volunteering program at the same time as it, and other donor states, softened this focus in the rest of their aid program. These shifts in Australias development volunteering programs have changed the logic, forms and outcomes of development volunteering.

‘Looks good on your CV’: The sociology of voluntourism recruitment in higher education

The recruitment for what has become known as ‘voluntourism’ takes place on campuses at many universities in Australia. Under the banner of ‘making a difference’ students are solicited to travel to developing countries to aid poor communities, to enjoy the sights and tastes of the distant and exotic ‘other’, the ‘experience’ touted as a useful addition to the curriculum vitae (CV). This article addresses the discursive terrain of voluntourism by providing an analysis of the ways in which students are invited to participate in such cultural practices while recruiters give little or no information about the lived realities of people in poor nations. We argue that voluntourism reinforces the dominant paradigm that the poor of developing countries require the help of affluent westerners to induce development. We contend that the recruitment of students by voluntourism organisations is an example of public pedagogy that reinforces a hegemonic discourse of need.

Youth as contested sites of culture: The intergenerational acculturation gap amongst new migrant communities-Parental and young adult perspectives.

Background Immigration often results in changes in family dynamics, and within this process of dynamic relational adjustment youth can be conceptualised as contested sites of culture and associated intergenerational conflicts. This paper considers the experiences of migrant youth in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia using conflict as a useful lens through which to view issues of migrant youth identity and their sense of social connectedness, belonging, and agency. The aim of this study was twofold: 1) to explore how migrant youth cope with acculturative stress and intergenerational conflicts, and 2) to better understand the systemic and family-related factors that facilitate positive settlement experiences for migrant youth. Methods A total of 14 focus group discussions, comprising 164 people, were carried out in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. These focus groups targeted newly arrived migrant parents and young adults (aged 18–24) of African, Burmese, Nepalese, Indian, Afghani, Bangladeshi and Iraqi backgrounds. Each focus group was 1.5 hours in duration and was conducted by a team of three people (an experienced facilitator, an accredited interpreter/bilingual worker, and a note taker). Data were collected using a standard interview schedule, and an accredited interpreter/bilingual worker asked the questions in the appropriate language and translated participant responses into English. Results The findings highlight how youth in new migrant families become contested sites of culture as they try to balance integration into the new culture while maintaining their originating country’s cultural values. Two themes and four subthemes emerged from the analysis: Intergenerational acculturation gap (loss of family capital and intergenerational conflicts); and factors that successfully protected positive family values while still allowing young people to integrate (the legal system that disarm authoritarian parenting practices and family rules; and parental use of children’s increased knowledge of the new environment to navigate their new environment). Migrant families conceptualised family capital as the social solidarity, influence, and control governing obligations and expectations, intergenerational knowledge transmission and information flow, social norms, and cultural identity. The loss of family capital was characterised by children’s refusal to associate with or meet family members, preferring to be alone in their rooms and private space. Migrant youth find themselves caught between and negotiating two cultures, with unwanted negative consequences at the family level in the form of intergenerational conflicts. The new found freedom among children and their rapid transition into the Australian society gives children an increased sense of agency, which in turn threatens parental authority, allowing children to exercise three forms of power: increased assertiveness due to legal protection of children against any corporal punishment; and English language fluency and greater understanding of the functioning of Australian social institutions. Conclusion Our findings suggest the need for an inter-generational approach to healthy family dynamics within migrant communities when dealing with youth negotiating the complexity and sensitivity of forging their cultural identity.

Sexual, reproductive health needs, and rights of young people in slum areas of Kampala, Uganda : a cross sectional study

Background Young people in Uganda face various sexual and reproductive health risks, especially those living in urban slums. The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with comprehensive categories of sexual and reproductive health, including sexual behaviours; sexual education and access to contraceptive services; family planning; prevention of STDs; sexual consent as a right; gender based violence; as well as HIV testing, counselling, disclosure and support. Methods The study was cross-sectional in design and was carried out in July 2014 in Makindye and Nakawa Divisions of Kampala City, Uganda. Using systematic random sampling, data were collected on 663 participants aged between 13 and 24 years in Kampala’s urban slums. Results Sixty two percent of participants reported having ever had sex and the mean age of sexual debut was 16 years (95%CI: 15.6, 16.4 years, range: 5–23 years). The odds of reporting ever having had sexual intercourse were higher among respondents living alone (OR: 2.75; 95%CI: 1.35, 5.61; p<0.01) than those living in a nuclear family. However, condom use was only 54%. The number of sexual partners in the last 12 months preceding the survey averaged 1.8 partners (95%CI: 1.7, 1.9; range 1–4) with 18.1% reporting an age gap of 10 years or older. More than three quarters (80.6%) of sexually active participants reported that their first sexual encounter was consensual, suggesting that most young people are choosing when they make their sexual debut. Low prevalence of willing first sexual intercourse was associated with younger age (OR = 0.48, 95%CI: 0.25, 0.90, p<0.05), having a disability (OR = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.16, 0.98, p<0.05), living with non-relatives (OR = 0.44, 95%CI: 0.16, 0.97, p<0.05), and being still at school (OR = 0.29, 95%CI: 0.12, 0.67, p<0.01). These results remained significant after adjusting for covariates, except for disability and the age of participants. The proportion of unwilling first sexual intercourse was significantly higher among women for persuasion (13.2% vs. 2.4%, p<0.001), being tricked (7.1% vs 2.9%, p<0.05) and being forced or raped (9.9% vs 4.4%, p<0.05) than men. A high level of sexual abuse emerged from the data with 34.3% affirming that it was alright for a boy to force a girl to have sex if he had feelings for her; 73.3% affirming that it was common for strangers and relatives to force young females to have sexual intercourse with them without consent; 26.3% indicating that it was sometimes justifiable for a boy to hit his girlfriend, as long as they loved each other. Conclusion This study has explored current sexual practice among young people in a specific part of urban Kampala. Young people’s sexual and reproductive health remains a challenge in Uganda. To address these barriers, a comprehensive and harmonised sexual and reproductive health system that is youth friendly and takes into account local socio-cultural contexts is urgently needed.

‘Life Is Pulled Back by Such Things’: Intersections Between Language Acquisition, Qualifications, Employment and Access to Settlement Services Among Migrants in Western Sydney

ABSTRACT This paper considers the policy environment and settlement support services provided for migrants arriving in Australia and the challenges faced by them when engaging in a complex policy environment. Using structuration theory, it aims to understand how migrants’ understanding of settlement services relates to their exercise of agency and to the institutional and social structures they draw upon to integrate in the new society. Data were collected through 14 focus group discussions (N = 164), across seven migrant communities in Greater Western Sydney, Australia. The paper highlights access to language services and literacy programmes as contributing to the obstacles affecting migrants’ ability to achieve employment and draw on available settlement services. Three main themes emerged: (i) language barrier; (ii) employment in the new country; and (iii) settlement services. Language posed as a major barrier to find suitable employment and overall settlement. While non-recognition of prior skills or education, and a lack of local employment experience, posed significant barriers for migrants looking for work, participants also found settlement services had not been able to ease this challenging process. Our findings suggest the need to consider pre-migration experiences while planning for interventions that are tailored to better integration of migrants into the Australian workforce.

Transitional Justice as Police-Building in Solomon Islands: Tensions of State-Building and Implications for Gender

Modern interventions focused on state building usually incorporate some mechanisms for transitional justice. The 2003 intervention of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) initially favoured criminal trials to achieve transitional justice, while local initiatives promoted community healing. RAMSI adopted a security paradigm that viewed the conflict as a matter of law and order, rather than as a complex historical and social issue. A central aim of RAMSI has been to rebuild trust in the state’s police force; however, this has been a particularly complex process as during the conflict from 1998 to 2003 many members of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) were implicated in serious crimes. RAMSI has pushed for a generational renewal of the RSIPF, but its emphasis on institutional mechanisms of state control and legal processes has resulted in a lack of coordination with local preferences for restorative justice. This chapter uses a gender lens to unpack the tensions and implications of the RAMSI intervention for women, arguing that the security-first paradigm, along with the exclusion of women from the initial Peace Agreement, has entrenched existing patriarchal social relations and has been counterproductive to later gender-mainstreaming initiatives in peace-building.

Regulation of sexual conduct in UN peacekeeping operations

Verdade e Reconciliação (CAVR; Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation), which was dissolved in December 2005. This body had a much wider mandate than the special panels, and was created to seek the truth of the occupation, deal with less serious crimes through community reconciliation, produce a report and publish recommendations. As a restorative justice approach, CAVR offered more scope for creating an official chronicle of the sufferings of the people of East Timor, but, as Kent deftly explains, the creation of a national history of struggle involved the collection of testimonies in hearings all over East Timor, and not all were happy about the results as recording their stories seemingly did little to alter their material conditions. The CAVR final report, Chega! (Enough!) now forms part of a national story that includes both resistance fighters and the ‘small people’ of East Timor, and has been widely accepted; but the novelty of Kent’s work lies in the discussion of how neither the trials nor the CAVR actually satisfied the diversity of demands for justice. Kent demonstrates how people began to create their own ‘locally grounded form of “justice”’ (p 178), working both with and outside official mechanisms to construct memorials, create victims’ support groups, and pursue political recognition of their losses and hardships. Kent explains how the official processes of transitional justice have been joined by ‘unofficial memory practices’ (p 174), many of which draw on Timorese tradition and the central role of ancestors in ordering society to restructure their shattered worlds. This analysis of why East Timorese expectations of justice differed from the reality that came to pass forms the central part of Lia Kent’s study. The book also provides a rich summary of transitional justice approaches in other parts of the world and is a valuable addition to a growing literature in post-conflict state-building.